NFOVF's Managing Director and American Legion Representative, Kurt Hiete, recently attended the final homecoming of Pvt Harry K. Tye, a Marine killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa in November 1943. Pvt Tye was Missing in Action for more than seven decades until his remains were discovered in early 2015 by History Flight, a non-governmental organization dedicated to finding, recovering, and repatriating America's war dead to American soil. NFOVF and American Legion Post #283 in Pacific Palisades, CA, have worked with and provided support to History Flight for the last seven years.

Hiete was also influential in inviting U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, two retired Marine Corps Generals. Their attendance brought much needed attention to the situation with the Tarawa MIAs and the public-private partnerships that are getting results and bringing home the remains of missing Americans from the Republic of Kiribati.

Above (top): NFOVF Managing Director and American Legion Representative Kurt Hiete thanks Secretary of Defense James Mattis for attending the final interment of Pvt. Harry K. Tye at Arlington National Cemetery on March 28, 2017. Next to Secretary Mattis is David Tincher, a great-nephew of Pvt Tye.

Above (bottom): NFOVF Managing Director and American Legion Representative Kurt Hiete shares a reflective moment with a family member at the funeral of Pvt. Harry K. Tye at Arlington National Cemetery on Mar. 28, 2017.